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NY Press
"Rolando Perez digs around in that rooted turf Schulz describes; he grows his own books in that fecund loam of literature and history, dreams and ideas." John Strausbaugh
Slavic and East European Journal Rolando Perez, et al. The Divine Duty of Servants: A Book of Worship (based on the artwork of Bruno Schultz). New York: Cool Grove Press, Inc, 2000. xxvi + 142 pp. , $22.95 (cloth), $12.95 (paper). The Divine Duty of Servants is a collection of very short stories, essays, illustrations and notes largely based on inspiration from Bruno Schulz's art. In his preface, Perez sates that his book is an exploration of "the eroticism of masochism and fetishism" (xxv), which he interprets in Schulz's drawings. The book is illustrated with the late Malcolm McKesson's drawings and Perez's sexually themed photographs, because Schulz's estate did not grant Perez permission to use any of his artwork. Perez instead takes a substantial amount of material from Schulz's fiction. He specifically reads The Street of Crocodiles (Sklepy Cynamonowe) as an exploration of the baser realities of human existence. He also borrowed some of Schulz's fictional characters for his own stories. Based on his understanding of Schulz's writing and drawing, Perez created a fictionalized Bruno (Schulz) character who is central to the books stories. Many of the texts revolve around this imagined character who is central to the books stories. Many of the texts revolve around this imagined Bruno's fetish-related memories and his sexual encounters with his sadistic and taunting lover Undula, who is also a character from Schulz's fiction. The other stories are an eclectic mix of insightful interpretation of literature related to themes of submission and humiliation with purposefully shocking descriptions of sexual scenes based on sadomasochism and degradation.. Franz Kafka and his character Gregor Samsa appear in a series of vignettes. Perez sees many similarities in the lives and writing of Schulz and Kafka, and he explores them in relative depth. In particular, one of Perez's stories recalls the scene from The Street of the Crocodiles where the narrator's father undergoes a figurative metamorphosis into a cockroach. Other stories include the story of Circe from The Odyssey and the fairy tales "Snow White" and "Cinderella" reworked with overt themes of foot fetishism. James Joyce, Freud, Sacher-Masoch, Victor Hugo and Marx's writings also figure prominently throughout the book, particularly in the short chapters called "notes". There are fifteen such "notes" inserted between longer stories. They focus on various aspects of humiliation, debasement and defilement. There are also many footnotes to the stories, which give bibliographic references for the real and imagined figures in the stories and to the literature quoted or suggested in the main text. The preface also includes a listing of Schulz's fiction and works on his bibliography. The authors of this book very adeptly combine a huge amount of material in a very concise interpretation of fetishism and masochism in art and literature. The language and imagery are very sexually explicit. This book should appeal to those looking for new interpretations of Schulz.
Reviewed by Ariann Stern, |